The Adventure of Going Home

We got up this morning around 8 and started packing for the trip home.

The kids were in stall mode and so were the dear wife and I. None of us were looking forward to the 6 hour drive home.

Finally we loaded the car and headed home. Shortly after merging onto I5 the rest of the family fell asleep. Which was good. The traffic got heavy and they all get nervous in heavy traffic. So I had the car to myself and Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Rush and his callers were hilarious. They were making fun of the Ted Kennedy for his honoring the one year anniversary of the Abu Grabe (sp) prison scandle. But the time his show ended they were turning it into a national holiday and making lists of what kind of presents you should give your favorite liberal on Abu-Grabe Day. It was funny, if highly irreverent. I don't alway agree with Rush, but I do enjoy listening to his show. It passes the miles quickly.

After Rush ended I put a mix CD in of my favorite old Motown songs. I was quietly singing along with the Temptations when suddenly my right front tire exploded. I was fortunately in the number 2 lane. So they shoulder was there on my right. A few moments earlier I had been in the number one lane with 70 miles an hour traffic to the right, front and back of me and a median too steep to pull into on the left.

I controlled the car and moved over the graded wake-up strip on the shoulder. I was able to get far enough over to keep about 2 feet between the van and the traffic then I got the tire changed.

The tire had a 5 inch tear in the side wall. I have no idea what caused this blowout. The road in that area was rough but not that rough. Additionally the tire was only two weeks old.

Regardless I got the mini spare on, and the back of the van reloaded. Since the tire was only two weeks old I wanted to take it back to the dealer where I bought it. So I didn't want to stop and buy a new tire so far from home. So I set my speed at 50 mph which was the recommmended speed for the mini-spare and we spend an hour longer getting home than we had planned.

Boy I have to tell you, I5 into Bakersfield and Hwy 14 from Mojave to Ridgecrest are really boring at 50 mph. I munched most of the way and made the family keep talking to me to avoid getting sleepy. On the bright side I didn't have to worry about passing anyone. I was definately the slowest thing on the road today.

We finally got here safe and well. I already planned on taking tomorrow off work, so instead of installing the new ceiling fan in the patio I guess I'm headed for the tire store.

Its good to be home again. We all like going to visit family, but coming home is always good. Well its getting late and I hear my own pillow and bed calling.

Happy Memorial Day to all, I hope you all got home safe also.